Sound-reproducing machine



Feb. 19, 1929. 1,702,770

A. N. GOLDS MITH SOUND REPRODUCING MACHINE Filed Sept 9. 1922 awuwntoi ALFRED N.GOLDSM|TH Ljudm Patented Feb. 19, 1929.

UNITED SKATES 1,702,710 PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED N. GOLDSMITH, OF MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO RADIO COR- PORTION OF AMERICA, ACORPORATION OF DELAWARE.-

' souiwn-nnrnonucine MACHINE.

Application filed September 9, 1922. Serial No. 587,068.

This invention relates to sound reproducing machines and 'particularlyto a horn adapted for use with a plurality of sets of sound reproducing apparatus designed tobe operated selectively as desired by the user.

In the use of machines comprising more than one set of sound reproducing apparatus, for example,-radio receiving'apparatus and phonographic apparatus, it is very lesirable for considerations including attractiveness of appearance and economy of manufacture that the sound reproducing machine shall be pro vided with but one horn to which sound is communicated both'from the radio .reeeiving 1 5 apparatus and-the phonographic apparatus. In sound reproducing machines of the abovementioned type and having a single horn,

diliiculty has, however, been experienced in obtaining good acoustic results from the horn with either of the sets of sound reproducing apparatus. Thisditliculty is believed to have beendue to a tendency on the part of the sound communicated to the born from one of said sets of apparatus to divide in the horn 26 and to enter the. conduit which connects the horn to the other set of sound reproducing apparatus. v

It is an object'of this invention to provide a horn for use with a plurality. of sets of 30 sound reproducing apparatus, which will give uniformly good results whethersound is communicated to it from oneor another of the 1 sets of soundreproducing apparatus.

To this end an important feature of the invention resides in the provision of ahorn havinga singlemouth or discharge opening and t wo'inlet conduits and also'having a bafl'le plate mounted between the inlet conduits and arrangedto' cause sound waves,

, communicated to either of said conduits, to be directed to ward'the discharge opening before leaving the conduit. Preferably, the horn is also so formed as to. cause the inlet conduits to-extend in substantial parallelism with each otherthroughout the major portion of its .Jlength. 1 i

In accordance with a further feature of the invention. the horn is provided with a discharge opening and two inlet openings, one

of the inlet openings being providedin a i part extending laterally from the body portion g'ofthe hornand the other inlet opening 'l'iei-ng in communication with a tubular member, said part and the body portion of the .55 hornheing formed to provide a conduit tapering from the free end of the part to the discharge opening, and the tubular member and i the body portion being formed to provide a second conduit analogous to the first-mentioned conduit and tapering from the outer 0 end of the member to the discharge opening. lVit-h this construction, if one set of sound reproducing apparatus is connected with the outer end of one of said conduits, and another set of sound reproducing apparatus is connected with the outer end of the other conduit, excellent acoustic effects may be obtained from the horn whether sound is communicated to it from one or the other of said sets of apparatus. In the illustrated embodiment ofthe invention, radio receiving appavratus is connected with the free end of the laterally extending part and phonographie apparatus is connected with the outer end of the tubular member. I

Still further objects and features of the invention will appear as the description proceeds and will be? pointed out in theappended claims- In the drawing in which like reference numerals designate like parts in the various views,

Fig. 1 is a front view of the upper part/of a'machine embodying the invention, with the cover of the machine in open position and with a portion of the machine casing. broken away so as better to reveal the phonographic apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a view in perspective with the plate in the upper part of the main portion of the machine casing removed and with the top wall of the casing partly broken away to reveal the horn.

Fig. 3 is a view of the horn in longitudinal section, and,

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the horn looking generally from the front of the ma.- chine.

In the illustrated construction, the main portion 2 of the casing of the machine is pro- 100 vided in its upper end with a compartment 4 in which is located aflared structure 6, the

rear end of which is in communication with the mouth or discharge opening 8 of a horn 10. As shown, the horn 10 is for-med to pro: vide front and rear inlet conduits 12 and 14 respectively and is provided with a part 16 formed integrally therewith and extending laterally and forwardly within the compartment l. The part 16 communicates with the front conduit 12 of the horn and has a passage 18 constituting an inlet opening for the conduit 12.

Secured tothe outer or free end .of the contained' The radio receiving apparatus is mounted on the inner side of the panel 24, and

' the panel is formed with an opening 26 in which the vacuum tubes 28' of the radio receiving apparatus are disposed, thus enabling ready access to befiobtained to the tubes for inspection and replacement. In order to enable the radio receiving apparatus to be readily operated, it is provided wlth suitable controlling elements extended through the panel 24 for manipulation from outside of the chamber in, which the radio receiving appa-' ratus is housed. These controlling elementsmay include a main switch 30 by which the operation of the radio receiving apparatus may be initiated or sus ended, a knob 32 by which the'inductance 0 the primary andsecondary circuits may be regulated in accord ance with the wave length which it is desired to. receive, devices 34 for adjusting the condenser in the secondary circuit according to the wave length to be received, devices 36 for similarly adjusting or tuning the primary circuit of the radio receiving apparatus and a knob 38 by which the primary and secondary circuits may be more loosely or more closely coupled to obtain softer or louder response from the machine. The radio receiving apparatus constitutes per se no part of the present invention and is fully disclosed in my co-pending application Serial No. 587,067,

filed Sept. 9, 1922, for sound reproducing machine. Accordingly, further disclosure of the radio receiving app ratus inthis application is deemed unnecessary.

The upper and smaller end of the born 10 is seated in the top wall 40 of'the main portion 2 of the machine casing, and isprovided with an inlet opening 42 which communicates with the rear inlet conduit 14 of the horn. Connected with the upper end of the horn 10 above the wall 40 is a tubular arm 44 mounted to swing horizontally relatively to the horn and carrying at its outer end a sound box 46.

which is provided with a needle 48 adapted to ride on a phonograph record supported on a turn table 50. a

7 It will be apparent from the foregoing that the front and rear inlet conduits 12 and 14 of the horn 10 are connected respectively with radio receiving apparatus mounted in the cover 22 of the machine casing and with phonographic apparatus, and that the radio "receiving apparatus and phonographic apparatus may be operated selectively as desired by the user of the machine. Moreover, it will further be,understood that when the radio receiving apparatus is being operated, sound is communicated by the telephone 20 to the part 16 and conduit 12 andissues from the mouth 8 ofthe horn and, that on the other hand, i

when the phonographic'apparatus is being operated,sound is transmitted through the tubular arm 44 to the rear inlet conduit 14 and thence to the mouth of the horn.

In order to prevent sound communicated to the horn 10 through the inlet conduit 12 or 14 from dividing in the space within the horn and passing back into the other conduit, the horn is provided with a baffle 52 interposed between the inlet 42 of therear conduit 14 and the channel 18 of the laterally extending part 16 and so constructed as to cause sound communicated to the horn through either the inlet opening 42 or the laterally extending part 16 to be directed toward the'discharge opening 8 before leaving'the conduit 14 or 12 respectively. Preferably and as shown, the ba'flie 52 is not only so arranged as to direct the sound waves toward the discharge opening 8 It will be further notedthat in the illus-.

trated construction, the laterally extending part 16 and the body portion ofthe born 10 are formed to provide an inlet conduit tapermg without any sharp angles or abrupt changes in the transverse areaof the conduit from the outer or free end of the part 16 to the mouth 8 of the horn, and that the tubular arm 44 and the rear conduit 14 also rovide an inlet Ill) conduittapering gradually rom the outer end of the arm 44 where it is connected with the sound box 46 to the mouth of the horn. Moreover, it will be seen that the inlet conduits provided respectively by the part 16 and the body portion of the horn and by the tubular arm 44 and the body portion of the horn resemble each other closely with respect to size and degree of taper, so that the acoustic effect of the horn on sound communicatedto it from one of the sets of soundfreproducing apparatus is similar to its effect on the sound communicated to it' from the other set of sound reproducing apparatus.

Although the horn has been described in its application to sound reproducing machines comprising radio receiving apparatus and 7 ing laterall producing apparatus of any desired type and comprising a. be dy portion having adischarge opening at one end and an inlet opening at the other, and, also comprising a part extend-j from the body portion, said part and said body portion being formed to provide a conduit tapering from the free end of said part to the discharge opening of said body portion and said body portion'being formed with a second conduit communicat-' ing with said discharge opening'andtapering from said inlet opening to said discharge opening.

2. In a sound' reproducing machine, a horn comprising a bo y portionhavin 'a dis-v charge opening at one end and an inIetopening at the other, and also com rising a part 'formedintegrally with said bo y portion and extending laterall from the body portion,

vsaidpart and said ody portion being formed to provide a conduit tapering from the free end of said art to said discharge opening,

and said bo y portion 'beingformed 'to provide a second conduit tapering from said in-' let opening. to-said discharge opening and arranged in substantial parallelism .with

the first-mentioned conduit throughout the major portion of the length of the horn.

3. In a sound reproducing machine, a horn comprising a. ho y portion. having a discharge opening in its frontface at one end and an inlet opening at the other end, and

also com rising a part extending laterally from the ody portion, said body portion being formed to provide conduits tapering from the inlet'end of the horntojthe discharge opening, said conduits being arranged one in front of 'the other and with "therear conduit in communication with saidinlet o ning and said. part being-formed with an mlet opening communicating with the from con duit.

, 2 4. In a soundre roducing machine,a horn comprising a be y portionha'vin a dise charge opening'at one end andan i et opening at the other, and also com rising apart.

dy portion,

"said part and said body portion being formed to provide a conduit tapering from the free end o'fl said part to said discharge opening, and a separate tubular member eonnected to the inlet-opening of the body por-.

tionfof the horn, said tubular member and said body portion being'formed to provide a conduit analogous to'v the first-mentioned conduit and taperin from the outer end of said member to sai discharge opening.

5. In a sound reproducing machine, a horn having a single dlschargeopening and two inlet conduits, a baflle .inounted in the horn r between the inlet conduits, and two independentsets of sound reproducing apparatus connected respectively with said conduits.

6. In a sound reproducing machine, a horn having a single discharge opening at one end and an inlet opening atythezother and com- .prising a body portion formed to provide two conduits arranged one in front of the other,

said conduits communicating with said disphonographic apparatus connected with the rst-mentioned inlet opening and radio re.-

-ceiving apparatus connected with said .part.

. 7. In a sound reproducing machine, a horn comprisinga bod 1 portion, said body {portion having a disc arge opening in its front face at one end,- an inlet openin at the other end, and a rear conduit extendlng from said discharge opening to said inlet openin said horn also comprising an extendingsi e portion with an inlet 0 ening in its free end, said horn having a ront conduit extending from said discharge opening to the inlet opening in said side portion,

8. In a sound reproducing machine, a horn comprising a bod portion, said body portion having a disc argeopeningin its front face at one end and an inlet opening at the other end and a rear conduit extending from said discharge opening .to said inlet'openin saidhorn also comprising an extending si' e portion with an inlet opening in its' free end, said horn having a front conduitextending from said dischar opening to the inlet opening in said si eportion, and a separate tubular member'connected to the inlet opening of said bod portion to. coact with said In a sound reproducing machine, a horn comprising a body portion having a dis-' charge openingin its front faceat oneend and an inlet opening in the other end, and also com ising a part extending laterally from the body portiomsaid body portion being formed to provide conduits extending from; the inletendof the born to the discharge opening and being arranged one in front or; the other and with one of, said conduits in communication with the said inlet -ppeni.ng, and part being formed from an inlet opening communicating with v the other conduit. ALFRED N. 

